Рами Юдовин – Wind in the Hands (страница 6)

The Stranger did not want to combat the Seer or show disrespect, but he suddenly heard a slight Wind blowing. He slowly turned his gaze earlier directed at the red and brown mask of the God of war at the host. “Can it be the Seer?” The Stranger thought and looked him directly in the eyes. Suddenly, he felt slightly dizzy, got pale, swayed, he was short of breath. But the Wind helped, it became stronger not only in the head and shoulders, but in the arms and that could happen only in special circumstances. Wind came out of him and seemed to be above him at the same time. The jaw vice which seized the Stranger weakened, but he was gradually filled with strength and nothing could harm him, even the Seer who was capable to lull a large audience or make a crowd jump on one foot in one place in unison.

“I haven't come to fight you or show my strength, I have come to speak. Trust me,” the Stranger said slowly and distinctly.

The Seer was shaken. He literally pierced his guest with his stare. His eyes became wet from tears and showed fear and pain. Seeing this misery of a great man, the Soldier rejoiced. He believed. He believed the Stranger.

“I have never seen anything like that. What was that?”

The Seer was speaking with difficulty. He sat down on a chair and pointed his finger at water. The Stranger rushed to fetch him a glass of water.

“Please let's not test each other. I have come with peace,” said the guest quietly. When he saw the host in that condition, he could not rejoice in his victory.

“I haven't tried to impact you to make you unconscious, I just wanted to feel you to understand what you live with. I haven’t shown aggression, but drove against a powerful energy stroke. Who are you?” the Seer was externally calm and was eying the Stranger without fear but amazed.

“I need your help. Can we talk?” the Stranger asked.

“Take a seat, but I doubt I can help you,” the Seer pointed at the chairs.

The Soldier was the first to take a seat; he was no less surprised than the Seer. The Stranger took his seat, too.

“I would like to know what you think about an important issue. I’ve heard something,” he started.

“In what state were you at that time?” the Seer completely recovered. He made himself forget his weakness as a bad dream, absolutely erase from his memory.

“I climbed up the hill and tried to tune in the heavenly wave and started to speak,” the Stranger hoped the Seer would understand.

“Was it a dialog?” the host's eyes shown smirk.

“It's not a theatrical performance. Why do you use such terms? Do you want to know if I can hear the Voice? Very rarely. But that requires a correct question. Sometimes I hear different voices as if I couldn’t tune on to a necessary wave in a bad quality radio receiver. And still I'm not sure if I heard my subconscious voice or really entered the Source of Knowledge,” it was hard for the Stranger to choose words.

“You have little experience. I have heard many voices or rather senses, since my childhood, and then learnt to translate them in human speech. But I checked myself: I came up to people and told them what they were thinking about. Sometimes I was mistaken, and the words I heard were of the person standing nearby. With time I learnt to differentiate sources,” the Seer started to speak in his normal complacent voice.

“I didn't have the task to read others' thoughts. I'm interested in the rules of the universe and my actions,” the Stranger explained.

The Seer was eyeing his companion with interest.

“A source of Knowledge is a kind of a large shop: there are various goods required for living and even more. There is something we cannot understand or use, at least in our time. A man who happens to be in the supermarket chooses what he needs. But sometimes takes everything he can lay his hands on, even something he cannot and will not be able to use. Give a fighter plane to a music teacher and he won't be able to start it. If you give a mobile phone to a person, living somewhere deep in the countryside, where never heard of radios or telephones, will he use it to communicate or rather hang it on his neck as decoration or use it as a hammer?”

“I understand what you are driving at. I have received something I cannot understand. But you cannot understand everything either. Still, I think the analogy with a shop is not really suitable. A source is rather a warehouse and goods are issued by a storekeeper according to the visitor's inclinations,” the Stranger said smiling.

“If a recipient does not know what it is, he should study an operation manual and understand its purpose.”

“What have you seen on the hill? Repeat exactly what you have heard,” asked the Seer sharply. He couldn't stand polemists and considered that he was always right and therefore was slightly irritated by lack of respect to him.

“I was told: ‘Go to the City’. The voice was distinct and clear as an order. I heard it from outside. I am not crazy. And I'm no less skeptical than you, but ignoring facts is a crime.”

“Have you asked something before that?” the Seer became serious and thought that something important was in the air.

“I asked how I should live. What must I do?”

“Was that all?”

“As regards the Voice, that was all. Then I have started to seek the meaning of the phrase and understood that I have to undertake an important and unsafe mission, but maybe these were the answers prompted by my soul and consciousness.”

“It's good that you can tell the voice of your consciousness from another voice. But the voice of your soul can be equally true to the heavenly voice,” tutored the Seer.

“Why? How can this be possible?”

“Are you ready to believe anything you hear over the radio?”

“Of course not. Do you want to tell me that I can hear an unknown voice translated from anywhere?”

“Translated by someone for unknown purposes.”

“But there exists the Voice from the Source of the Truth, to explain the unclear and understand the unknown,” the Stranger was slightly alarmed.

“Ok. It is hard to tell it from the voice of your sub-consciousness and more difficult from the voices outside. I'm speaking about the source of information don't have the slightest idea about. By the way, you have interesting terminology for the phenomena which are generally only hard to perceive to say nothing about describing or naming them,” the Seer smiled lightly.

“It is for better understanding. Speak on, please.”

“Imagine there are powerful translators high up in the sky, and all can hear a heavenly voice, but we understand that the signal is from the Earth.”

“I see. You want to say that intelligence services may have sent a signal directly into my brain?” the Stranger got worried. He understood what the Seer was speaking about.

Hearing the words ‘special services’, the Soldier showed the signs of life with a heavy sigh, but, trained a sniper, he learned to be patient.

“Do you think I'm an idiot to believe in the omnipotence of intelligence services?” the Seer asked.

“You know what I'm thinking about.”

“Ok, excuse me. Would you like some coffee? I'll ask to bring some.”

“It is unimportant. But thank you,” the Stranger felt uneasy: the desire to have a coffee was instantaneous and insignificant, but the Seer guessed. The host pressed the intercom button.

Several minutes later a young woman came in, holding a tray with a coffee pot, sugar pot, cups, biscuits, chocolate, and dried fruit on. The Soldier got interested and was watching a beautiful woman looking as if she stepped from a fashion magazine cover. The Stranger glanced at his bemused comrade and slightly raised his eyebrow pointing at the Seer. The Soldier took on an innocent appearance. The host was attentively watching everything going on in the room, laughed carefree and winked at the Soldier. After his guests had their coffee, he lit a cigarette.

“Sorry, I haven't understood what you meant when you were speaking about the source of the Voice?” the Stranger resumed an unfinished talk.

“Have you heard about the Adversary?” the Seer was looking at his guest cunningly.

“Yes, of course. There is a learning of a power confronting the Creator's will and making harm to people. However, the records of the earlier clairvoyants do not mention him. As if they did not see him at all. The evil similarly to the good, as early prophesy manuscript says, – is sent by the Creator who made day and night, light and darkness. And only afterwards, sages concluded that it was not the God who was the source of misfortunes or disasters, but someone else. Let's call him the Adversary. I can assume that this figure, appearing in human consciousness, is based on real circumstances. Although I think all misfortunes sent down on people are actions of the rewarding and responsibility system.”

“You think that all evil, misfortunes, and agony is the doing of the reward system? And do you think it is fair and flawless? That it punishes evildoers and bestows on righteous people? Do you think the Creator is so cruel to people?”

“People make other people suffer. The Creator tries to teach us not to destroy each other but to teach in the way that does not deprive us either of autonomy or of the right of choice. Maybe the reward system is not so apparent to all because its laws overlap and it is very difficult to understand all mechanisms. We don't have much information to make the right choice,” the Stranger was speaking softly and calmly, but he was tense.